Thursday, May 8, 2014

Video: iLatin and eGreek - Ancient Languages and New Technology, February 1, 2014

A Council of University Classics Departments Teaching and Learning
Symposium hosted by the Open University, UK and supported by the Institute for Classical Studies The Open University, Hawley Crescent, Camden

The iLatin and eGreek one-day
conference explored the use and effectiveness of new technology in
teaching classical languages. Presentations focussed on resources and
pedagogy: the materials out there for learners and teachers of Greek
and Latin, and the problems new technology might help to address. They
also explored ways of evaluating the effectiveness of technology for
enhancing pedagogy and suggested guiding principles for the development
of interactive websites, apps and other technology-based resources.

The
focus of the day was on language teaching at UK universities, but there
was valuable input and inspiration from secondary education, from
modern languages and from other countries, including America and
Germany. The conference participants reflected on how the teaching of
classical languages is changing in the twenty-first century and
considered how innovations in pedagogy and technology might help to
improve the student learning experience.

Through
the generosity of the Institute of Classical Studies (School of
Advanced Study, University of London), the Higher Education Academy,
the Council of University Classics Departments and the Open University,
there was no conference fee and no charge for lunch and
refreshments. Travel bursaries were also awarded to a number of
students.

The primary focus of the project is notice and comment on open access material relating to the ancient world, but I will also include other kinds of networked information as it comes available.

The ancient world is conceived here as it is at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University, my academic home at the time AWOL was launched. That is, from the Pillars of Hercules to the Pacific, from the beginnings of human habitation to the late antique / early Islamic period.

AWOL is the successor to Abzu, a guide to networked open access data relevant to the study and public presentation of the Ancient Near East and the Ancient Mediterranean world, founded at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago in 1994. Together they represent the longest sustained effort to map the development of open digital scholarship in any discipline.